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Synonyms

assets

American  
[as-ets] / ˈæs ɛts /

plural noun

  1. Finance. items or resources owned by a person, business, or government, as cash, notes and accounts receivable, securities, inventories, goodwill, fixtures, machinery, or real estate (opposed to liabilities).

    Infrastructure assets, such as telecommunications systems, are not as available or as reliable in developing countries.

    Depreciation applies only to tangible assets, which are the assets that exist in physical form, like vehicles, computers, etc.

  2. Accounting. the items detailed on a balance sheet, especially in relation to liabilities and capital.

    The balance sheet lists assets and liabilities in order of liquidity; in other words, the assets most easily converted to cash are listed first.

  3. Law. all property available for the payment of debts for a bankrupt or insolvent business or person, or the payment of legacies or debts for a deceased person.

    It is the job of the receiver to sell your assets and distribute the proceeds to your creditors.

  4. Informal. parts of a person’s body seen as sexual or attractive, especially a woman’s breasts or buttocks.

    That slinky, shiny outfit really shows off her assets.


assets British  
/ ˈæsɛts /

plural noun

  1. accounting the property and claims against debtors that a business enterprise may apply to discharge its liabilities. Assets may be fixed, current, liquid, or intangible and are shown balanced against liabilities Compare liabilities

  2. law the property available to an executor or administrator for settlement of the debts and payment of legacies of the estate of a deceased or insolvent person

  3. any property owned by a person or firm

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of assets

First recorded in 1300–50, for a previous sense; in phrase have assets “have enough (to pay obligations)”; see asset ( def. )


Explanation

Your assets are things you have that are valuable. Money, property, and skills are all assets. When you talk about assets, you're talking about things that are good to have: they're worth something or they're useful. Money is certainly an asset. A house you own is an asset. If you're an employer, good employees are assets to the company. Personal qualities can be assets, too: if you're smart, brave, or even just good looking, consider it an asset.

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Vocabulary lists containing assets

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Its overall capital expenditures reached $45.2 billion, around three-quarters of which was spent on "short-lived assets" like memory chips and storage, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

The ruling means that if the French first couple were to eventually win in the case, Owens' personal assets would be shielded.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

Dave Nadig of ETF.com did the math by calculating different fund companies’ revenue per dollar of assets under management.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

The “State of the Markets” from the famous firm, which has over $100 billion in assets under management, is presented as yet more evidence that AI and technology are heading for the moon.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

Taking 2 percent of assets off the top, as most did, meant the hedge fund manager got paid simply for amassing vast amounts of other people’s money.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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